Tsunami alert and at least 16 dead after 7.8-magnitude quake hits the Philippines

Tsunami alerts have been issued and at least 16 people have died after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.

US, Indonesian and Philippine agencies all published warnings and told people to move inland or seek higher ground.

However, Indonesian authorities have now stood down their alert.

There have been reports of damage to buildings and a key access bridge in a large southern city has also been affected.

At least 16 people have been killed and more than 200 others injured, officials said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves of up to three metres were possible in the Philippines, while eastern parts of Malaysia might get swells of up to a metre.

Mindanao is among the southernmost islands of the Philippines, and the quake occurred off its southern tip, about 13km (8 miles) southwest of General Santos, a city of more than 700,000 people.

The biggest tsunami seen so far in the Philippines on Monday has been 1.4 metres, according to Phivolcs, the national seismology agency. There have been no reports of damage or casualties from the tsunami.

President 'Bongbong' Marcos urged people in the Philippines to immediately heed all warnings.

At least seven people were killed and 130 others injured in General Santos, where at least a few small buildings partially collapsed and several structures, including a key access bridge, sustained dangerous cracks.

Nine other people were killed in the southern provinces of South Cotabato and Davao Occidental province, and on Balut Island, mostly due to falling debris, a damaged mosque and a landslide, officials said.

Phivolcs and the US Geological Survey (USGS) both measured the quake at magnitude 7.8 - the strongest to hit the Philippines this year.

It occurred at a depth of 20 miles (33km) at 7.37am local time and was followed by a series of aftershocks.

"It's a major earthquake and we're expecting damages and we've already some damaged buildings based on videos we've seen," said Phivolcs director Teresito Bacolcol.

A video filmed in General Santos City - home to more than 700,000 people - showed a small building collapse and authorities there said they were assessing reports of damage and injuries. They are also checking reports of some students being trapped in a collapsed school.

Meanwhile, a police chief in Mindanao's Sarangani province told Reuters it was the "strongest earthquake we've experienced".

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People in Indonesia's North Sulawesi and North Maluku provinces also felt the earthquake but the country's disaster agency said there were no reports of damage so far.

Indonesia and the Philippines lie in the Pacific "ring of fire" - a string of underwater volcanoes and sites of increased seismic activity that stretches about 25,000 miles.

Both nations experience hundreds of earthquakes every year.

(c) Sky News 2026: Tsunami alert and at least 16 dead after 7.8-magnitude quake hits the Philippines